Lifestyle

In a BlogtoWatch exclusive, we present to you the new Kravitz Design X Les Artisans de Genève LK 01 watch, a reimagined and modified Rolex Daytona Ref. 116523, aka the two-tone gold and steel Daytona. As you can likely gather from the name, it’s designed by none other than musician and watch collector Lenny Kravitz. Yes, this is a modified Rolex with a celebrity association, and it is also one that looks very cool to me. For those not yet familiar with what Les Artisans de Genève do, they typically take an older or vintage watch (typically Rolex, and you can see our coverage of their first release, a modern tribute to the Rolex Daytona 6263 here) and tinker around with materials, colors, movement, and other aspects of the piece with varying effect on the inherent identity of the original.

Here is a DLC-coated reinterpretation of the Daytona with a military cuff leather strap rather than the classic Rolex oyster bracelet that comes in a leather case designed to recall a roadie case. What did you expect from a watch designed by the music icon seen as the epitome of badass cool? Lenny Kravitz has been a known watch collector for some time now, and though most of us know him from his music (and, more recently, acting career) he has operated his own design firm – Kravitz Design – for over 13 years now. Usually more focused on interior design, this is Kravitz’s first foray into watches and Les Artisans de Genève notes that this process was a true design collaboration with an active hand on every aspect of the process.

This reimagined Rolex Daytona reference 116523 is the previous generation Rolex Daytona that first came out in 2000. The 40mm-wide watch runs on the Rolex calibre 4130 movement that gets a 72-hour power reserve. This remains unchanged in the Les Artisans De Genève X Kravitz Design LK 01 Rolex Daytona watch, but now let’s get into exactly what is changed from the original model. The modifications that Kravitz and Les Artisans de Genève have made include a black DLC treatment on the case, as well as a new handmade bakelite golden bezel. On the black dial, you’ll notice the “KRAVITZ DESIGN,” adding to the already ample text as well as the red seconds hand matching the “DAYTONA” text color.